Love and Longing In The Common Room
by milliniumgirl9
Summary: When Harry finds Ginny's diary in the Common Room, and realizes how she feels about him, what will he do? And what role does a certain Slytherin play? (formerly titled Dangerous Image)
1. The Loss

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Dangerous Image  
  
  
  
Summary: When Harry finds Ginny's diary in chair in the Common Room, how will he react to her feelings about him? And where does a certain Slytherin fit in?  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: All characters, places, etc., etc. belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling, and if I owned any of them do you really think I would be writing fanfics like this? I mean, come on, people, you know I don't own them, so I really don't see the point of the disclaimer, but I must abide FF.net's wishes...*grumbles*, so on with the story.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: Finders Keepers  
  
"Why?" Ginny Weasley scribbled furiously into her diary, talking out loud, and nibbling on her eagle-feather quill. "Why do I have to be so poor?" " Why do I have to be the only girl, always overshadowed and the youngest?" "And why doesn't Harry like me?"  
  
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Ginny Weasley sat in the common room, all alone, with nothing but the occasional crack and sparkle of the bright fire to keep her company. She had gotten quite used to being all alone. She didn't really have any close friends in her year; Hermione and Ron only just recently discovered how much they enjoyed each other's company, and Harry was head-over-heels for Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang. The only person she could ever really talk to was Neville Longbottom, and even he was gone. Professor Snape probably gave him detention again, she thought. Poor Neville. Ginny heard the portrait of the Fat Lady swing open, and she quickly stashed the little blue book under the cushions of the fluffy red armchair. A scarlet-eared Ron and a red-faced Hermione emerged with bags from Zonko's and Honeyduke's. "Hi, Gin!" Ron said breathlessly. "I though you went to Hogsmeade with the other fourth-years." "No," replied Ginny. "I really didn't feel like it and I had that essay for Potions, anyway." she lied. And I was to busy feeling sorry for myself, as well, Ginny thought bitterly. "Well, I got your favorite candy, Chocolate Frogs!" he said with a grin, looking very pleased with himself.  
  
"Thanks." Ginny said, forcing herself to look happy and plastering a fake smile on her face. But no one ever suspected anything. No one ever asked if she was okay, if she needed to talk, or if she needed any help. Truth was, no one ever really payed any attention to her. She was always seen as the younger sister or the youngest Weasley.  
  
She despised it. No one thought Ginny capable of anything. "I'll show them!" she burst out angrily. "What?" said Ron. "Oh, nothing," mumbled Ginny with an embarrassed look on her face. "Um, Ron, I'm going to go up to my room to take a nap, okay?" Ginny turned to find that Ron had already left out the portrait hole. "Augghh!" she screamed.  
  
"Figures, I should be used to it!" And with that, she stomped up the stairs to the fourth-year girls' dormitory, and collapsed on her four-poster bed.  
  
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"God! No one ever pays me any attention! I hate this damn place!" Ginny screamed. Her screams echoed throughout the dorm. "Well, at least nobody's around to hear me" she said out loud. I have got to out of this place, she concluded. To where, though? A walk on the grounds? Too cold. To the library? No, I might run into Draco Malfoy…yes, Draco Malfoy. The same one who had been invading her dreams for months. The same pale, arrogant Slytherin boy (not to mention sexy) who totally despised her and her family. But in her fantasies family rivalries weren't present. Only they were. And they were doing anything but fighting. Okay, Gin. Calm down. But what if I run into him in the Great Hall, too? Exactly… Okay, let's go, then. Ginny checked her make-up in the mirror, brushed her hair, readjusted her robes, and clomped down the stairs and climbed out the portrait hole.  
  
  
  
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Harry Potter collapsed on the oversized crimson armchair, throwing down his bag, and massaging his aching shoulders. He quickly popped back up when he felt something sharp poked him in the back. "Ow, what the fuck?!" he shouted. Harry turned to see a small, blue leather-bound book behind the cushions. On the front, the initials VEW were engraved in silver. Before he could look it over, Hermione came thundering down the stairs, taking two at a time. Harry quickly tossed the book into his bag. "Harry," she said breathlessly, "have you seen my Potions essay? I have to find it!"  
  
"No" he replied. "Professor Snape will kill me!" she moaned. "Hermione, calm down!" he shouted over her. "I'm sure it's around the Common Room. It couldn't have gone very far.", he said, trying to reassure her. "I've already looked in the common room!" yelled Hermione. "Okay, okay." "Well, have you tried the library?" he questioned. "Of course! The library! I'll ask Madam Pince if she's seen it!" Hermione took off through the portrait hole like rocket, while the Fat Lady yelled threats down the corridor. "Honestly, there's no peace in this place!" Harry muttered. He walked back over to the chair and was just about to open his bag when Ron and the rest of the Gryffyndors burst in. Choruses of "Hey, Harry!" could be heard all around. "Harry, why weren't you at dinner?" Ron asked. "Too tired." Harry replied. Ron gave an understanding nod. Harry had taken over Oliver Wood's position of team captain and was tirelessly going over and revising Quidditch tactics for the upcoming match. "Well, anyway, you missed it!" "Fred and George totally embarrassed Crabbe and Goyle!" Ron couldn't stop laughing. The rest of the Gryffyndors started laughing, and a fresh wave of giggles broke out when Fred a pirouette, but Ginny hung in the background, looking anxious and worried. What's wrong with Ginny? Harry wondered. She walked past him and up to the girls' dorms. No one took any notice but Harry. He put in the back of his mind, though, and listened to Ron's tale of Crabbe and Goyle in pink tutus. He couldn't help himself, and nearly fell out of his chair with laughter. Harry wasn't aware of someone watching him from the top of the staircase. 


	2. The Realization

Dangerous Image  
  
  
  
Okay, people, here we go with Chapter 2 of Dangerous Image.. in which Harry debates whether or not to read the diary and Ginny drools over Draco….  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Everything, except the plot, belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. I don't own any of it, as much as I wish I did, and I never will so, on with the story!  
  
  
  
A/N: Please review and tell me what you thought. If you liked it or if it sucked, and if so why. Thanks!  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 2: To Read or Not To Read…  
  
  
  
Thoughts of the day swirled through Ginny's mind, repeating themselves over and over. "I wonder what was up with Malfoy tonight?", she pondered out loud. He was actually civil towards me tonight. It couldn't be? A Malfoy being polite to a Weasley? Impossible! Or was it? Draco Malfoy had actually apologized when he had knocked Ginny down and smiled at her during dinner. It couldn't be a trick, could it? Malfoy wouldn't even carry a prank that far and make it look convincing. It has to be genuine.  
  
I have to get him out of my mind. I have other things to worry about. After the common room had cleared out, Ginny had went back to check the armchair for her diary. She hadn't had time after dinner. After digging through every single piece of furniture in the common room, all she had found were 3 Knuts, a Sickle, a half-eaten Chocolate Frog, and someone's old crumpled Potions essay. (Very low marks, of course.) Well, that's it, she thought dejectedly. By breakfast tomorrow, the whole entire school will know my secrets. This is just wonderful.  
  
  
  
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Harry woke with a start. Ron was leaning over him, staring straight into his face. "Dammit, Ron!" he shouted. "Don't do that!" He sat up and put on his glasses. "Sorry." Ron said. "I wanted to wake you up so you didn't oversleep." he explained. "Thanks for the thought, but next time, find a better way to do it." he grinned. "C'mon, let's go down to breakfast before all of the good food's gone!" Ron said. Harry looked around the dorm. Everyone else had already left. "Go down. I'll be there in a few minutes." "Okay." Ron said and practically flew out of the room. Before Ron had woken Harry up, he was dreaming about the diary. It had made him think back to his second year, when the Chamber of Secrets was re- opened, and Ginny Weasley had been behind it. (Unknowingly, of course.) The book had been weighing on his mind ever since yesterday. He knew he shouldn't open it, but curiosity was beginning to win. Harry was about to go over to the bag and open it up, when the clock on his bedside table caught his eye. He only had ten more minutes until the first class of the day started. "Shit!" he cursed and raced to the showers. He quickly dressed and grabbed his bag with three minutes to make it down to the dungeons. (Conserving water was a big thing at the Dursleys' so he was use to short showers.) He arrived in the Potions lab two minutes late, huffing, glasses askew, face red, and his hair sticking up from the way it had dried. "Mr. Potter," Snape began, spitting his name out, "late again, are we? I believe I shall inform Professor Dumbledore about your tardies. You seem to think you are above everyone else and can stroll into class anytime you feel like it." he smirked. Asshole, Harry thought, bastard, dickhead….calling Snape all of these names in his mind to prevent saying them out loud. Too late. "Bastard!" Harry burst out. "Go ahead, I don't care!" "Make that twenty points from Gryffyndor, along with the other ten for your lip! Disrespect me again, and you'll be straight in McGonagall's office!" he roared. God, I hate him, Harry thought silently. Ron was trying hard not to laugh, disguising it with an obvious fake cough, and Hermione was trying to look as if she were reading over the assignment, snickering behind her Potions book. "Five more points from Gryffyndor for being insolate brats!" he yelled. "Want to make it more?" Snape challenged. "I thought not. Now get to work!" "Potter, come up front with me, where I can keep an eye on you." he drawled. Slimy bastard, Harry thought angrily. Draco Malfoy was sitting in the front of the class. Oh, yay, I'm partnered with Malfoy. This is going to be a long class. "Hello, Potter." Malfoy said casually, as if they'd been friends forever. What's wrong with him? Harry wondered. Did he accidentally zap himself with his wand? Is he dying? Or high? " What do you want, Malfoy?" he spat. "Just being friendly is all." he said. "Malfoys are never friendly. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you high or something?" "Nothing's wrong, Potter. Just making conversation." he said. "Well, keep your damn conversation to yourself and leave me the fuck alone." He was already pissed off and didn't want to put up with Malfoy's conniving little mind games. "Okay, okay." Malfoy said and turned back around. Harry slammed his book down and began to copy the notes for the Revival Potion off of the board. He hated the Slytherins. Every last one of them.  
  
  
  
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Ginny sat in Professor Binns' class, fretting over her lost diary, ignoring him and his vacuum-cleaner drone. Where the hell could it be? she thought. I was only in the Gryffyndor tower. I could use the Accio spell, but I'm not entirely sure if it would work…  
  
Well, I know if someone's found it, they've already read it, but apparently don't want to spread my personal life all around school. At least, I hope not. Oh God, please let me find it. Her thoughts, or rather, prayers, were interrupted by Professor Binns calling on her. "Victoria Weasley, is it? Can you tell me the name of the goblin who assisted Westmore the Warrior, during the Goblin Rebellion?" She didn't bother to correct him. At least he had gotten her last name right. "Umm…Leroy the Loyal?" she guessed. "Correct." How in the hell did I know that? I never pay attention in this class. Oh well, the less embarrassment, the better. Close save. Ginny pushed the diary to the back of her mind and tried her best not to fall asleep. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the bell to end class rang. Thank God! She gathered up her things and rushed into the crowded corridor. She had to pass through the main staircase, and ran into Draco Malfoy, who smiled at her again. God, he's so sexy, she thought. What is up with him, though? He never acts like this. Maybe he's sick. She gave a half-grin and walked by, trying to make it to Transfiguration before the bell, thousands of thoughts flying through her mind. She quickly forgot her diary, and concentrated on Draco, who was becoming her favorite subject. What is wrong with me? What's the sudden obsession with Draco? And since when did I start calling him Draco? I seriously need help. She was about to go off onto another daydream about Draco, when her friend Natalie pulled her back into reality. "Girl, what's wrong with you? You've been staring into space all morning. You better pay attention." she warned. Damn, Ginny thought and cracked open her Transfiguration book. Natalie's right, she concluded. I have to keep my mind off Draco or I'll wind up failing. Hard as it was, Ginny stuck with it and tried her best all through class to concentrate on nothing but turning her book into a blue jay. 


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